February 20, 2009

Racism and primates. Purely by chance. 2 completely different stories, blogged for independent blogability. Did I ever tell you about the time I blogged to this "Infamous Monsters of Filmland" post and because of the bit about Al Sharpton, some concerned citizen emailed what I think was every high administrator and every black professor on campus to alert them that the university had a terrible racist law professor?

191 comments:

Obama is right now in the process of destroying private industry. His loose lip talk of nationalization of banks will destroy the incentive of anyone to put up private money. Why would you invest money in something when the government can just take it away. In the end the government will be the only investor.

The government is obviously way too powerful and Obama is indeed our Hugh Chavez.

According to the new AG, it takes courage to talk about race with any candor. So I suppose "every high administrator and every black professor on campus," to say nothing of the blog-reader community, is in your debt, at least according to Holder.

As for the "racism and primates" posts, they show how awkward it has already become to respond in politically normal ways to the O Administration while still observing all of the fatwas governing speech about all things racial that lefties want to impose. The NY Post's semi-apology to all (except its die-hard opponents) who may have taken offense at its cartoon indicates that those same fatwas are not without force even among those who make a show of disdaining them. That's not the kind of courage Holder was talking about, or even the audience he had in mind. But it is where the 'courage' part of his little moralizing tale mostly comes into play.

The funny thing was, I didn't see it as comparing congress to a chimp. The text said something to the effect of, "they're going to have to get someone else to write the next bill." So I took at as alleging that basically Congress had hired a chimp to write it. At best it was comparing the chimp to Congressional staff.

But then again, since some of the Congressional staff are black it must be racist. Tar and feather those fools at the NY Post! They must be silenced!

AlphaLiberal said... Just once I'd like to see a conservative response to a racist incident or problem that doesn't involve:

a) Denial andb) Attacks on people raising the problem.

1. The MO in the escaped monkey story was, "Liberals create another false racial slander by altering video". I fail to see how that is right wing racism at work or denial on the part of bloggers here.

2. On the cartoon story, it takes multiple degrees of connection to make that racist.

a. The Chimp story was front page and clearly not racialb. Obama didn't write to stimulus bill. his fault was he let Pelosi do it. so the chimp in the cartoon is either House Dems or Dems as a whole.c. Cartoonists for 8 years have been portraying Bushchimphitler. I don't see any connection to Obama in the cartoon, but if there was, why would it now be off limits?

All this talk of racism is a red herring you people are using to disguise the fact that you're all speciesists. More enlightened countries (in Europe, of course) are (long overdue) recognizing that chimps have human rights:

He recognises himself in the mirror, plays hide-and-seek and breaks into fits of giggles when tickled. He is also our closest evolutionary cousin. A group of world leading primatologists argue that this is proof enough that Hiasl, a 26-year-old chimpanzee, deserves to be treated like a human. In a test case in Austria, campaigners are seeking to ditch the 'species barrier' and have taken Hiasl's case to court. If Hiasl is granted human status - and the rights that go with it - it will signal a victory for other primate species and unleash a wave of similar cases.

Yet here a chimp is shot in cold blood, and what happens? Silly cartoons and tired irrelevant political rhetoric. Never do you hear solutions to speciesism, let alone acknowledgment of speciesist problems. Shame on all of you.

I think that we don't talk about racism because half of those in the conversation will be silenced by charges of racism, and they're afraid to risk that.

I view discussions about America's serious problem with white racism the way I view discussions about God. Which is to say, I don't think either thing exists. Other people are welcome to believe those things exist. So long as they don't try to force me to do something about it they can go on believing it forever.

"We need to talk about race" is like "would you like to attend a Bible study". That'd be a "no".

some concerned citizen emailed what I think was every high administrator and every black professor on campus to alert them that the university had a terrible racist law professor

Only one? Surely the prevalence of racism in our society, as pointed out by AL and others, means that your group is severely underrepresented. You should demand that UW's Ministry of Diversity immediately undertake a program to hire more racists.

I think the Braveheart concept would fit better with Baboons. The ones with the big blue ass cheeks. Thinks of Mel bending over and tossing up his kilt. Bet Titus has that on a vcr loop :)

as for the cartoon, I think MM, on the other thread nailed the cartoon metaphor. a million monkey's banging away on typewriters producing Hamlet, except the Stimulus package only had 535 monkeys and it isn't a classic.

AL... can you show me a single example of you denouncing liberal racism? I've challenged you 3 times, at least, to take a position on Jane Hamsher's portrayal of Joe Lieberman in blackface. Is that non-racist, to you, because Jane is a good lefty?

I gave you 3 examples of behavior I would consider racist. You said I hadn't given any, then called me a "dipshit."

You are a bigot. You have created a stereotyped, biased image of "conservatives" in your mind, and will not allow your opinion to be swayed by any actual facts. You insist on perceiving every word said by any person you deem "conservative" through the distorted filter of your bigotry.

Moreover, you are a racist. Any black person who doesn't share your political views is deemed to be some sort of turncoat, much as many of your co-believers consider Justice Clarence Thomas to not be a "real" black person, because he doesn't believe that the Constitution allows the government to treat people differently because of the color of their skin in ANY context.

You are a racist. A racist. A racist. You are so blinded by your racism, that you cannot do anything other than hurl the same charge at those with whom you disagree politically.

I thought we were all supposed to scuttle our cowardice and talk about race openly. Ya know, something like letting a thousand flowers bloom, that old commie trick to first draw out, then behead "enemy" flowers everywhere. But lets say, for the sake of fiction, that Barry and Eric aren't communists. Let's take them at their own words. Didn't the election of Barry, the mere fact of electing a black man president atone for past sins? And, more important, didn't it take us to a new stage in our history, a post racial stage? Then why are THEY sticking race in our collective eye? Think about it.

I've given plenty of reasons for calling you a racist, AL. The only reason you've given for calling ME one is because I don't agree that the cartoon which MIGHT depict the President of the United States as a monkey (much as the last President of the United States was routinely similarly depicted) is racist.

You've yet to condemn any of the specific examples of racism by liberals which I have pointed out. Guess that makes you an apologist for racism, too.

I view discussions about America's serious problem with white racism the way I view discussions about God. Which is to say, I don't think either thing exists.

I think you're probably right (except for the God part), but with a couple of conditions... certainly there are people who are white supremacists, who do actually believe in racial superiority and inferiority. Everyone shuns those sorts. Then there are people like those I heard (and nothing about them indicated red-state-hick) on the plane coming back from Costa Rica, talking about how nice that country was, and you know why, because unlike where-ever else they'd been, there wasn't so many of, you know, "them" in that country. Frankly, I was shocked. And I know Alpha won't believe me (and I don't care either) but I was appalled because I NEVER hear that sort of talk. Not ever.

And there was a whole lot of outright racist remarks about Condi (particularly) and Powell, and I found those rather shocking. The blackface thing with Steele and Lieberman...

OTOH, the (recent?) trend to define racism as something other than what a person believes is true about people of other races, is a strong indication that white racism as some sort of overarching American problem no longer exists, or why is it necessary to make up this new standard of being racist, no matter your beliefs, simply by being a member of the majority race?

Racism is a sin. It is part of our fallen condition. Sin will continue until Jesus returns. Racism cannot be ended in a person without conversion to Christianity and the gradual transformation of that person into one who is more Christ like.

It was! You claimed that conservatives deny racism. Don't recognize it. Of course we do!

And the point, the important part that you willfully chose to ignore (besides the obvious that NO ONE commenting on this blog is racist) is that it was shocking to hear that conversation for the most part because it's so unheard of anymore.

No one puts up with it.

That's why when your sort of "must see racism everywhere or else you're in denial" enthusiasts start talking about racism it devolves into "code words" or the new-classic of "racist by virtue of being white" oppressor class bull sh*t.

For example I only use the word nigger when having sex with a black man. And I always ask first and once I get the green light I use the word to it's fullest potential. Repeatedly and loudly. Never once has a black man told me I can not use the word nigger during sex.

And I have taken my directive from Chris Rock. The only time a white person can use the word nigger is when they are saying fuck me nigger.

Wow, I feel so cleansed after admitting this to all of you. A huge burdon has been lifted from my back. Totally group hug right now.

I'm not going to put up a link to Jane Hamsher's original post, because I think you're a liar when you say you never heard about Jane Hamsher taking a picture of Joe Lieberman and Photoshopping it to put him in blackface, Alphaliberal, you racist.

I think the article makes all kinds of good points, at least as far as I skimmed. The headline was probably written by a different person and uses not "black speech" (because not all blacks speak hip hop slang, as you hopefully know) but hip hop speech.

I am a top Ricpic. Nothing enters my ass and I can only suck a cock for about 1 minute and I do it lousy. Normally after a few minutes of me nippling the hog they start using their hand to jerk it on their own which is fine with me. I know where my talents lay and it is not with sucking cock.

"Fuck Me" could mean I am going to fuck you not that you are actually going to fuck me.

I have the prostrate of a young boy-my doc has told me. I plan to keep it that way too. I have tried to be fucked but I find it humiliating, not fun, it hurts and I feel like I am going to pinch a loaf. therefore, I don't get fucked.

Actually, PatLAS, you also also lied about the babealicious Jane Hamsher. She did issue a statement from the link:

“I sincerely apologize to anyone who was genuinely offended by the choice of images accompanying my blog post today on the Huffington Post. It’s also important to note that I do not, nor have I ever worked for Ned Lamont’s campaign. However, at their request, I removed the image earlier today.”

Titus... The former Atlanta Mayor, Andrew Young, told some questioner, "You're just a smart ass white boy." After that many friends of mine wore a Button that read SAWB. That was funny. Humor lets us say more truth to each other than all the serious talk, as you Titus seem to have have mastered well. No one owns anyone since 1865, So we can live without suspicions of one another if we try some publicly expressed mutual respect.That will free us up to complain about Half Black Marxists.

That's because there's no excuse for that picture of Lieberman. There is no non-racist explanation for it.

The chimp cartoon, however, is only racist in your own mind, and in the minds of other deluded racist whacko lefties.

So, to sum up:

It's racist to suggest the chimp in the cartoon is Obama. There can be dozens of explanations! But, there is no other explanation for the Hamsher cartoon, it's pure racism, and it's NOT racist to bring this example up!

“I sincerely apologize to anyone who was genuinely offended by the choice of images accompanying my blog post today on the Huffington Post. It’s also important to note that I do not, nor have I ever worked for Ned Lamont’s campaign. However, at their request, I removed the image earlier today.”

The really amazing thing, Alpha... is that she had to be told, by someone else, that what she did was racist and offensive.

It's racist to insist that the ONLY explanation for the cartoon is racism, garage mahal. Is it possible that the cartoonist is secretly a white supremacist? I suppose so. Is that inevitable? Even likely? Not at all. Yet your fellow racist AlphaLiberal insists that the cartoon MUST be racist, and anybody who says otherwise is an apologist for racism, and thus racist themselves.

The headline was probably written by a different person and uses not "black speech" (because not all blacks speak hip hop slang, as you hopefully know) but hip hop speech.

LOL! Now you're doing what you accuse us of doing. This is way too funny.

Is anything about Michael Steele hip-hoppish? No? Does he dress hip-hoppish? Does he dance hip-hop? (This is fabulous exercise, btw.) Is he known to listen to hip-hop? Is he teenager-ish? Is it a suggestion about class? Or is the man educated and wears suits?

Or maybe, Alpha, he's black.

What other *possible* reason can there be to put "Yo, whut-up.." in Michael Steele's mouth?

BTW, that's a real apology. Not like the non-denial denial from the New York Post for their editorial cartoon comparing Barack Obama to a chimp.

Jane: I sincerely apologize to anyone who was genuinely offended...

NY Post: to those who were offended by the image, we apologize...

No, AL, it was the same mamby-pamby "I apologize if you were offended" non-apology in both cases. I actually think the NY Post wimped out, but they redeemed themselves slightly for calling out the surrounding shakedown attempt.

Actually, I want to agree slightly with GM on something. Part of the whole problem here is that people are throwing around the term "racist" far too loosely.

When we conservatives point to examples like the Lieberman or Steele blackface photos it's not to suggest that the perpetrators are racist as well. Rather, it is to contradict the claims that it is racist when people on the right do similar things. When I asked AlphaLiberal to tell me if the author of the "Magic Negro" piece was racist I didn't do so thinking the right answer was "yes", I did so thinking the right answer was "no" as it is in most of these other cases.

I think an important distinction between offensiveness and true racism has been lost in this kind of dialogue. Establishing true racism, to me, requires at least some evidence that the accused harbors some sort of belief in the inferiority of a particular race. I don't think Jane Hamsher holds such a view, and I don't think the editorial cartoonist at the NY Post does either.

That is not to dismiss claims that people could be legitimately offended at something; nor am I suggesting that people can't be racially insensitive; nor am I suggesting there are not true racists out there. But someone who argues against affirmative action is not automatically a racist. Someone who posts an editorial cartoon or photo that someone, somewhere extracts racially insensitive symbolism from is not automatically a racist.

But of course, according to my Attorney General, I'm just a coward, so what do I know.

It seems to me, if AlphaLiberal wants to hijack a thread any time it strikes his fancy and throw out generizations and insults and then require others to disprove them (or, preferably, apologize for them), then maybe he should think about starting his own blog.

mcg... you are, of course entirely correct. But I've decided to ignore those fine points when dealing with people like Alphaliberal, and rather to judge them by the same rules they try to apply to me and others. So I'm going to call him a racist until he finally admits the same point you just made, because by the standards HE (and his whacko lefty ilk) have adopted, he is one.

We (those on the right, generally) have played defense in this area for far too long. I'm fed up with it, and so I decided about a year ago to treat those who casually toss around the "racist" charge as Alphie has today with about the same level of respect as we reserve for those who use the N-word.

Calling somebody a racist is, in my view, every bit as offensive as using the N-word, and I'm going to act like it. I'm sick and tired of putting up with their crap and letting them get away with making such broad-brushed bigoted slanders.

I think you're probably right (except for the God part), but with a couple of conditions... certainly there are people who are white supremacists, who do actually believe in racial superiority and inferiority.

I'm not disputing that these people exist. They just aren't politically or socially significant anymore.

There also isn't anything to discuss in relation to them. They're idiots. They've got a constitutional right to be idiots. Let's move on.

PatSo are you not a racist to imply the Hamsher cartoon could only be interpreted as racist? Your logic, not mine. And I see your hurling around the term "racist" quite a bit {despite equating it to the N word] on one hand, yet on the other hand you seem to deplore it coming from others.

I'm calling people like you and Alphie racists because you keep calling me one. As I noted earlier (in this thread or the other one), I'm doing so by applying YOUR standards to your actions. I figure if I do it often enough, maybe you'll see the error of your ways. And if you don't then at least perhaps less insane observers will come to understand the danger caused by the casual use of the "racism" charge by the left to score cheap political points.

So yes, you're a racist because you can't help but view EVERYTHING through a racial prism, and you assume that other people are racists without proof.

mcg... Well, it's a matter of tactics. In my view, we've tried being nice and letting whackjobs like Alphie apply one standard to us and another standard to the Jane Hamshers of the world for a couple of decades now, and that's only emboldened them.

So I've decided to fight fire with fire. If I have to sound like a 3rd grader in order for more people to see him and all his ilk as 3rd graders, too, then that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

But more hopefully, I think doing so will force THEM to make the same points as you raised in your earlier comment. But it's important that they do it, not that we provide them with the excuse. We can (and should) provide the defense you made in response to specific allegations (remember the poor white D.C. government employee who used the word "niggardly"?). But the lefties don't accept the defense.

So I say, attack, attack, attack, until THEY use the defense themselves. That will then constitute an admission, by them, that they've been full of shit before. If we don't take the fight to them, we'll keep losing ground.

That is not to dismiss claims that people could be legitimately offended at something; nor am I suggesting that people can't be racially insensitive; nor am I suggesting there are not true racists out there.

I think a good word for most of this stuff is “tone-deaf”.

It’s quite possible that none of these people are racists, or that all of them are (I don’t think we can know this without knowing them really), but the comic was tone-deaf, because it clearly struck some people that way and I doubt that that was the intent.

I think Lott's comments were tone-deaf, as was the sending out by the GOP chair candidate of the LA Times' "Barack the Magic Negro" spoof. But I disagree that the cartoon was tone-deaf. Not doing that cartoon because somebody like Alphie might take it as racist would be self-censorship, in a bad way.

garage, Alphaliberal called me(and all conservatives, and all those defending the "chimp" cartoon) a racist, and you've generally been siding with him in this thread, so I assumed you were agreeing with his charge.

Plus, you said:

Blogger garage mahal said...

PatHMV You seriously cannot see the the difference between comparing a white person to a chimpanzee and a black one? You can't be this stupid.

But if you are stating that you agree that I'm not a racist, then I will retract my claim that you have called me one.

It’s quite possible that none of these people are racists, or that all of them are (I don’t think we can know this without knowing them really), but the comic was tone-deaf, because it clearly struck some people that way and I doubt that that was the intent.

It wasn't tone-deaf, it was naive. They should have realized that a certain particularly stupid subset of the population would be offended. What they shouldn't have done was cared.

Mentioned this in the other thread, but your answer? Trent Lott. Drummed out. By conservatives. For racist comments.

Let me say that I didn't shed a tear when Trent Lott was pushed out for his very tone-deaf racist comments. BUT, I think a large part of his exit was because the White House didn't want him where he was -- for a couple reasons that undoubtedly included his racist commentary. It was win-win for them. Get rid of a not-quite-up-to-snuff Leader, and help the Republican party look less racist.

The accusation that another race or culture is funny/weird and different from us(the original meaning of "idiot")is rude but somtimes a funny descriptive Jab, that is often not hostile. The description of the other race as Non-human is a blank check for a mob to hunt down and kill the Non-humans. he religion based upon Mohammed's revelation recieved from an angel in a cave does ascribe to infidels Non-humans status.That brings to my mind the Nazi's best work. Also that brings to mind pre 1865 Slaveholder's desire to see the enslaved darkies from Africa as non-humans. Knowing this we are well advised not to refer to any US citizens as being like the non-human wild beast Travis, just as we are well advised not to repeat Nazi Scientists findings that call Jews Ratlike Subhumans. Do as you please, but also realise what your words are doing to yourself.

Madison, that may well have been part of the White House's motive. Political parties tend to be willing to overlook racism in their members if they need their political clout (e.g., Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd).

But it is still the case that there was a grassroots movement among conservatives to dismiss Lott over his remarks.

The person I remember doing it, the most grassy of the grass roots, I guess, was Josh Marshall, who is not a conservative. Admittedly, I'm not keeping tabs on the goings-on of many Conservatives. :)

In fact, I thought it was one of the first big hullaballoos in politics that was really driven by the blogosphere. And it really put talkingpointsmemo on the map (Back when I read it) Maybe I'm confusing it with something else though.

I think Glenn was really in on it, MM. I remember lots of conservatives talking about it.

I realize it's kind of ridiculous to quantify things this way, but it's also ridiculous to read AL screaming RACIST at every turn and there really is no good way to defend oneself from racism. I mean, I mostly ignore that stuff, but still.

I do agree with traditional guy that black person = monkey is a very dangerous place that you really, really don't want to go. I just in no way think Obama wrote the stimulus package at all so I don't make the link. But otehr people do.

I have learned it is best to treat most adults like nearly senile schoolmarm scolds, among whom actual discussions are impossible and unwise, for they are perpetually offended and find fault with everything you say or do.

They are far too fragile for real life, and desperately cling to remnants of 1960s liberalism, looking at the world still through their Woodstock era lenses.

The world made much more sense to them then, so much easier to categorize the and good the evil.

Why not hijack this thread to plan the Summer vacation of a lifetime for our hostess. Who can find the best night stopover for the Cannonball Run Professor about a 6 hour drive from Madison? The sunlight needs to have a few hours left to go for generic Tree exploration and Purpleness appreciation, all in a Certified safe place.

Consider the paradox: Racial "sensitivity" requires not eradicating racial stereotypes but keeping them alive--and not only keeping them alive but remaining acutely conscious of them at all times. Delonas and his editors are under attack for seeing "chimp" and failing to think "black guy." Perhaps this is an editorial failing, but it is certainly not a moral one.

I see the Professor and I on Herring Cove Beach in Ptown. Then we walk along Commercial Street, do some light shopping, she can take zillions of pictures of the fags gardens. There is a Malibu Barbie garden she will love. Barbie is everywhere in this fags garden. She is swimming, barbecuing, playing volleyball-you name it.

Dinner at Cafe Edwige which is fabulous overlooking the ocean.

Back to my timeshare where we get ready and go out and see a show and get accosted by Cher, Tina Turner, Liza and Judy while we walk the strip.

Lastly, a stop at Dick Dock so Althouse can see the more seedy side of life.

Most of that money will go to my summer of love 2009. A timeshare in Ptown which will allow me about one month there, two weeks in Ogunquit and two weeks in Fire Island. All dog friendly destinations of course. My rare clumbers are much more popular than me at my summer retreats.

In other news, My horoscope for the day is telling me to relax and enjoy the crappy stimulus bill:

For Friday, February 20 -Questioning authority is usually a shrewd thing for you to do, but right now you need to trust the people who are making the tough decisions. Combating them will be a waste of your time, and could create drama that is distracting rather than helpful. Those in power know more about the situation than you know, so your worries could be based more on fear than on fact. Give these folks a chance to impress you. They will remind you why they are in charge in the first place

Titus... I Googled Herring Cove Beach. Cape Cod is great, But the website said Herring Cove was a NUDE beach. You know that your photos will have to be masked as to the faces of the frolicking tourists to protect the Blog from accusations of unfair practices to get traffic. Or you can just post them to Trooper's Blog.

I just hope we can agree that we should strive to not negate the illustration that the US system is tolerant and open enough to elect an Obama, have a female and Jewish VP nominee in recent years with the crudest sort of stereotype of blacks. (violent, dumb, subhuman simians..)

We also owe it to the Asians, gays, Mormons, hispanics, Indian, muslims, Italians, and even midgets (Robert Reich) who have risen to positions of high power and trust in America to avoid the most bigoted sort of caricature of them.

Erstwhile "chimp cartoon defenders" miss that. They can argue until they are blue in the face, but sliming Al Sharpton as an ape is a whole lot different than directing bigotry at an elected President representing all the people.

They also miss that it isn't "just like" their partisan foes calling the hapless Dubya "Chimpy McHitlerBurton".

They also miss that the cartoonist might have gotten away with it by making it a GROUP of deranged Chimps that came up with the stimulus - clearly implying Congress - all the black, white, asian, gay Jew, female, Catholic, MOrmon, Muslim folks in the lot were the target. But no, they just had One Chimp, which made the target One Person, and most on 1st glance saw Obama as the "ape" targeted.

Once that link was established, the Post was further damned by the strong taboo we have after the deep national trauma we have over assassinated figures, and nearly assassinated ones (Reagan) about joking about killing leaders. Especially the President.

**************Revenant said... Madison, that may well have been part of the White House's motive. Political parties tend to be willing to overlook racism in their members if they need their political clout (e.g., Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd).

To be fair, both those men moved along with the times, as did George Wallace. Thurmond and Wallace and add in Bubba Clinton had more black friends and went to more black gatherings and did more for black constituents than Barbara Boxer, Teddy Kennedy, Dick Durbin or any other self-righteous Northerner or Westerner no matter how liberal ever did. Especially in their later years.

Titus... The favorite summer place for us is Amelia Island Plantation. It's on a barrier Island 6 miles south of Ga/Fla line and 20 minutes northeast from Jax Airport. We havenot seen nude bathers yet, but who knows these days.The food is the best, and the Live Oaks are like those from Charleston to Hilton Head so it doesn't feel like Florida. It may be too Traditional for you. I understand from my Uncle in NY that Fire Island is his favorite place for gay society. Have fun.

Cedarford, that comment reveals nothing more than that you are completely insane, and are obsessed with looking at people entirely based on their racial, ethnic, or religious identities.

If I want to make fun of President Obama in the same way that you and your buddies on the whacko left routinely trashed President Bush, what are the allowable ways for me to do so? Calling him a chimp is out, I understand. Can I call him stupid? An idiot? A communist? Can I compare him to African dictators the same way that Bush was compared to Hitler? Kindly tell me what are the allowable, non-racist ways of criticizing President Obama, caricaturing him, and generally satirizing and castigating him, in the way that Americans have ALWAYS done of their presidents?

Pat - you will be allowed by Cedarford and his ilk to STFU. That's what they will allow you, on the pain of harassment, prosecution and worse. The left is feeling very triumphalist right now and who knows what they will do in the next months.

PatHMV - If I am insane, it is the same sort of insanity Rupert Murdoch has. He was pissed about the cartoon, and the Post explained it certainly wasn't their intent to portray Obama as a deranged Chimp that needs to be shot. And further resents those that seek to make more of the cartoon than it actually was.

You on the other hand, in your previous posts admit it "might be" about Obama as a deranged Chimp that needs to be shot, but deny that would be racist. Which is actually far more an "insane" stance than the one I, Rupert Murdoch, and a large part of the country have.

Yea, blacks play the race card too much and many take offense over the trivial because they sense it will give them Victimhood and perhaps money and/or power if they protest loud enough..But sometimes they have valid points and legitimate grievances.

But in this case, no, we should not go down a path where Obama is trashed as an ape and the act, the smear, is tied by other Americans to Right Wing Republicans. It's not good for the country, and it's not good for Republicans who wish to become a National Party again.

I love anywhere the beach is. I fucking love the ocean. I can't get enough of the ocean.

I miss the ocean right now.

Too fucking cold to even walk on any beaches.

I can't wait until the summer.

Are you being sacrastic Alex-regarding me being funny?Lastly, I would never take Althouse to a nude beach. That would not be right. I have more respect for her but that doesn't mean that I would mind seeing her in a lowcut tankey...raaaaawww.

One of my favorite beaches is in Kennebunkport. If any of you haven't gone you need to go. Kennebunkport is totally fabulous. So fabulous. Beautiful Yacht Clubs, beaches, quaint downtown, seafood fresh from the Atlantic. God I can't to get there this summer. It's only about 20 miles from Ogunquit Maine where I go. If going don't miss the Wedding Cake House-a house that actually looks like a wedding cake. How cute is that? And very pro marriage.

Delonas and his editors are under attack for seeing "chimp" and failing to think "black guy." Perhaps this is an editorial failing, but it is certainly not a moral one.

I think this is the problem in a nutshell.

I looked at the cartoon and thought "Crazy Face Eating Chimp / Monkeys in Congress on typewriters." I did not think "Obama / Chimp." I don't think of black people when I see monkeys or chimps or apes. In my world "monkeys" is a normal thing to call small children and "you big ape" is a playful thing to call a man. If the reference *was* actually to a black person I'd recognize it as over the line and racist. But it's not the default... when I see a picture of a chimp I don't *automatically* try to match it with a black person.

Obviously some people do, but the thing is... they're WRONG to do it.

Failing to equate a chimp with a black person isn't racism... it's the passing of racism that we're working for. Failing to make that connection is a GOOD thing.

I certainly agree that large segments of the population should not ridicule our elected President. Sadly, most on the left disagree. Indeed, our President himself spends plenty of time trashing his immediate predecessor, though usually he has enough sense not to do so by name, directly.

Unless you've been condemning such behavior for the past 6 or 8 years, then, you're an utter hypocrite. And to hide behind the "racism" cry is particularly shameful. Disgusting, really.

He actually masks his homoness pretty well. Very difficult to detect his sexuality. I am impressed. I am sure it took him years to perfect. The Italian in him helps in my opinion. He is ok. I would do him.

The mayor of Casper or Cheyenne or one of those Wyoming towns is also a fag. How depressing. They really are everywhere-just like their motto states.

Alex... Bush was as human as they people get, for better or worse. You are right that Slander of Republicans was their being uneducated and ignorant Bible believers from Reagan to Bush, when Bush's dyslexia was in truth the sign of his superior mental abilities, and he was truly well educated. He took a big chance when hecome out of the closet to identify with Jesus, and that made him a target of Scientists who can't test out Jesus in a double blind test protocol, and a target of everyone who has proudly rejected their faith traditions. The Bush depiction that most often defamed him was the same as Ronald Reagan's and Barry Goldwater's of being Cowboys. So what. Only Europeans and Canadians hate "redneck cowboys" for whipping them over and over in wars. Much of the world loves the courage and faithfulness of an American Cowboy. Then their are the Leftists. To them deceptions and slanders are a required shared mental illness. That's why truth telling and a no surrender foreign policy are seen as RIGHT WING and shameful in the media. Anyway I do not want to go back and retake any of the tests I have learned to pass in the Love thy Neighbor challenge living in the Georgia since the 1950's. Have you seen Driving Miss Daisey?It's a true depiction of Atlanta in 1950-1970 era of change. And we loved those Black women who helped to raise us.

I looked at the cartoon and thought "Crazy Face Eating Chimp / Monkeys in Congress on typewriters

This is because you have some cultural reference, an education and are connect to curent events. Others live in a box and wear blinders.

Like the guy who thought the reference to losing things in the office: "disappearing down a black hole" was a wacist wemark. He demanded an apology and was as outraged and puffed up as AL is about a cartoon. Puleeeze. Black hole is a scientific term. Hope it wasn't racist or homophobic to call that guy a flaming moron. Too bad. I'm doing it anyway.

You can't swing a cat without running into some smegma sighting in Montreal. You can actually smell smegma in the air in Montreal. The unoffical name of the city of Montreal is "The Smegma Capital of the World".

I actually walk out of my fabulous hotel (when staying in Montreal) and say, "nothing like the smell of smegma in the morning".

Smegma is the scientific term. Others call it cheese but I believe that is tacky and a low class term.

Pogo said... The difference between a lefty and a national socialist is for one the jews wrote the ideology and then got shipped off to camps, while in the other they just went straight to the camps.

Humorous, but largely true. And it was a bitter pill to swallow for the communist Jews that were so important in setting up the Red Terror, the Gulags, and serving in the instruments of State oppression - the Cheka, GRU, the NKVD, and Gulag labor system....To then in turn be ensnared in purges later and become victims of the system they helped set up.

And technically, the Nazis also got a certain confirmation of their racial superiority philosophy from the Brits and Zionists, on top of their own native-grown sense of the superiority of the Volk. THe 2nd half of the 19th Century was full of various peoples claiming racial superiority, and the subject a favorite at universities and among the intelligensia. America had a variant after the Civil War, the genetic inferiority of blacks and darker-skinned Mediteranean types. The Japs had a well-developed Yamoto Race creed.But the Nazi Party theoreticians that survived the War, including the oddly named Rosenberg at the Nuremburg trials, said that they had read the early Zionist tracts, which were common in Germany, and well developed before Hitler was still a corporal in the Trenches. And said that they found reaffirmation in early Zionist concepts of Jewish racial purity, Jewish purity laws of descent, the inherent racial superiority of Jews, and the sense of a Jewish national identity. It was an excellent mirror for their own nascent German Master Race ideas. They eliminated many Jewish ideas, line family lines only allowed to do this or that, matralineal descent...but said in the 30s they had freely plagarized Zionist texts. In some cases leaving whole pages intact substituting only "Aryan" for Jew and substituting the "Greater German Homeland" of future destiny for the aspirations Zionists had written of the "Jewish Homeland in Israel".

The Nazis also cooperated with the Zionists for years on a central point of agreement - Jews needed to leave Europe, and Nazis thought it in their interest to support various Zionist projects that seemed to be aimed to achieve that mutual objective. That both deep down loathed the other was beside the point. For years, it was Nazis pushing for America, the British Empire (especially in Palestine, S Africa, England) to take Jews - and those nations resisting.

I looked at the cartoon and thought "Crazy Face Eating Chimp / Monkeys in Congress on typewriters."

One of the major reasons this comic was an EPIC FAIL is because it should have been Monkeys and instead it was one. They tried to shoehorn the whole thing together and it totally, completely didn't work. It didn't even make sense. Idiots.

Cedarford... You don't really believe that "poor dumb Nazi's outwitted by the Evil Superior Jewish conspiracy" propaganda do you? I know that Henry Ford, Joe Kennedy, and many English officials believed in it. But why?

Alex said... Cedarford - spare me your faux outrage. You had nothing to say about the 1000s of ChimpyMcBushHitler cartoons. So your opinion is worth ZERO

I did criticize them as stupid left-wing tripe, here, with Alpha Liberal and elsewhere like at the Atlantic forum.

**************Dust Bunny Queen said... "Only Europeans and Canadians hate "redneck cowboys" for whipping them over and over in wars"

Did I miss something? When were we at war with Canda? I guess we won though.

The truth is actually quite funny. The Canadians stand as the only people that routed the Americans in every battle. It was the War of 1812, and well-trained, well drilled regular army British/Canadian soldiers tore the "private citizen armed militias" the Founders thought adequate a new asshole every time they fought.

Fortuntely, the Americans back then were smart enough to embrace "lessons learned". All criticism of a "standing army" and the establishment of West Point from 1802 up to the Northern debacles of the War of 1812 had ended by the time that War was done. America decided the Founders were wrong. We needed a standing army that could rapidly be expanded by conscription as Napoleon had taught the world, an army with the latest technology, and led by professional West Point soldiers.The War of 1812 ended that post-Revolutionary debate about concern by some that a professional American army would be a tool of tyranny, and our security ensured by a farmer simply dropping his plow and picking a musket up and heading to where all the noise was coming from..

"Freedom-loving!!" armed citizen militias still played a role after that, but only in a sense they could be deployed against irregulars like themselves - like Indian tribes on the warpath - or serve to delay an invading army until the "Real" army was mustered, organized, and sent in.

Later, the "armed private citizen" had a minor role in discouraging Japs from doing Special Landing Forces raids delivered by sub on the West Coast to attack shipyards, aircraft factories, oil facilities, and bases. The Jap thinking was that such West Coast missions were high risk, low chances of success endeavors. Because of long distances w/o support, mobilized national guard, high risk of sub detection and destruction from coastal air patrols, that any landing force would be slowed and thanks to superb US electronic and telephone networks, rapidly encircled by guard, police, and even armed private citizens - until the guard or regular army finished the Imperial Marines off.

tradgauy, cedarputz is driven to blame everything on the Jews, including the invention of the ideology which was used to rationalize their mass murder. Personally, I think a painful cancer ridden death is too good for the putz. But I suppose Christians might pity him.

Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn. Everyone getting their tits and balls in a wringer over a cartoon. Who cares? Really, what is their to care about? I guess some of the over educated, intellectual idiots, Mensa morons, and crepuscular cretins have no sense of humor. They would ban everthing and anything that offends their serious, tender sensibilities. Get a life!!!!

When I first saw the cartoon in the Post, my reaction was to consider it a comment on the idiocy of the stimulus bill and not as a veiled jab at Obama. I think Sharpton's outrage is to a great extent manufactured but, nonetheless, skillfully manufactured. He pushes the red buttons of blacks who are extremely sensitive to any racial insult and of whites who are equally sensitive to being stereotyped as racist for enjoying a cartoon that is, at worst, ambiguous. This is a fine example of the Reverend's finesse in matters of this kind. If from this meagre kindling he can start any kind of conflagration he deserves recognition as a master manipulator.

I know a little about my options. Every year I get options from my company. I have been at the same company for over 5 years. And every year I am elgible to exercise those options. I have 5 different strike prices that I exercise every year. All of them are well under the current price of the stock-by anywhere from 20.00 to 50.00 bucks a share. Also, some of them are unrestricted stock when means I get the whole value of the stock which is about 71.00 a share right now. I also received new hire options and every year I am eligible to exercise 25% of them. Last year I exercised enough options to get approximately 65,000. The stock is a little lower than last year but only by a couple of dollars as opposed to many other organizations.

So what I am saying is I am elgible to exercise 8 different stock grants:

The first is my new hire optionsThe second is when my organization transferred to another orgnaziation within my company they gave us stock options-my company used to have three different trading stocksThe third is my annual stock options I receive and I have 5 different strike price/options for every year I have been with the company.

I don't know what a put is? I am dumb but I do know I am going to be receiving a chunk of change next week.

Oh and when I started with company I received 12,000 new hire options. The strike price was $31.00 an option. Today the price of the stock is approximately $71.00. Every year I exercise up to 3000 of those new hire options. 3000 x 40.00 is $12,000.

And some of my strike prices for my annual grant range from 31.00-60.00. And some of my stock I get the full amount of the stock after 3 years with the company.

I exercise all this shit every year. Which is why I don't think of leaving.

TitusFreezeFrame said... Oh and when I started with company I received 12,000 new hire options. The strike price was $31.00 an option. Today the price of the stock is approximately $71.00. Every year I exercise up to 3000 of those new hire options. 3000 x 40.00 is $12,000.

And some of my strike prices for my annual grant range from 31.00-60.00. And some of my stock I get the full amount of the stock after 3 years with the company.

I exercise all this shit every year. Which is why I don't think of leaving.

10:35 PM So, 3000 times 40 is 12,000...You better think about leaving, since they really should fire you for your inability to do basic math.

When the Reverend Al Sharpton got the word that an unarmed African immigrant was gunned down by the police, he immediately began to get in motion the perpetual grievance machine of the professional civil rights movement. He got on the line to the National Action Network to get his picketers ready. Bruce Springsteen dusted off his guitar to compose his new song “Forty One Shots-Remix.” Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins and David Dinkins and the members of the New York Communist Party go ready to go to One Police Plaza to get arrested protesting the murder of this unarmed underprivileged member of the permanent underclass. After all what right did a rich white lady from Connecticut have to think she could get out of a car with a new haircut and not get her face eaten and her eyes gouged out. I mean this poor immigrant is entitled to a fair trail and an attorney and the police were totally unjustified in murdering in cold blood this poor misunderstood victim of circumstance. He was the real victim. Everything was ready to go. But then Reverend Sharpton was informed that it was in fact a monkey who had been shot down in a hail of police bullets. So he called off his protests. You see the professional civil rights movement would never protest or even question anything that happened to a Caucasian or Asian or anyone other race. You see, where is the money in that?

AlphaLiberal: "Just once I'd like to see a conservative response to a racist incident or problem that doesn't involve . . . attacks on people raising the problem."

The only problem here is that people like you interpret everything through the lens of race. There is no "problem" to be defended. The last stimulis bill was apeshit crazy. It shouild have been shot (as the cartoon suggested) but was regrettably signed into law instead. What you don't like is the politics of the message. Since it's hard to attack that without being irrational, you instead claim it's racist and then attack that. The cartoon doesn't need to be defended. It's author needs to be commended making such a hard hitting attack on (need I say it again?) an apeshit crazy stimulus bill.

Alpha Liberal, first of all, I agree with you that there is racism, that it is bad, and that it still exists in America. I also think that some of the comments on this blog are in poor taste and racist.

Having said that, I have three thoughts. First, context is key here and no one seems to have pointed this out. If this cartoon had occurred even a week earlier, it would have been much more questionable. But it occurred AFTER the chimp in Connecticut had attacked the woman and then subsequently been shot. Delonas was trying to tie two current events together. I don’t think it was particularly clever of him and, as someone pointed out, it was tone deaf. But I’m not convinced it was racist.

Secondly, many liberals ARE racists, if only in the closet. They need people of color to behave in certain ways, and when they don’t behave in those preset ways, some liberals become distinctly uncomfortable. There is an episode of “All in the Family” where Lionel unloads on Mike for always talking about race, but thanks Edith for simply accepting him as a fellow human being. What was most profound about that episode was both Mike’s puzzlement that Lionel did not want to constantly talk about race, and Mike’s embarrassment that Lionel would trust Edith more than Mike.

That brings me to my last point, what I call the common sense test. If someone rants about MLK, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, et al., there is a strong probability that person is a racist. If a person ridicules or lampoons Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, then it’s a pretty normal reaction. If a white person told me LeBron James was a dangerous thug, I would be wary of the white person, not LeBron. If a white person told me O.J. Simpson was an dangerous thug, well duhhh. Even given the presumption of innocence, I’m not going to want to hang around with Chris Brown—he is a violent loser. How does that make me racist?

Interestingly, I haven’t heard of any reaction about the cartoon from the President. What does he think?

Speaking of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder:Eric Holder is a racial-minority individual, and in his heart and mind he inevitably does not endorse hate crimes committed by George W. Bush.George W. Bush committed hate crimes of epic proportions and with the stench of terrorism (indicated in my blog).George W. Bush did in fact commit innumerable hate crimes.And I do solemnly swear by Almighty God that George W. Bush committed other hate crimes of epic proportions and with the stench of terrorism which I am not at liberty to mention.Many people know what Bush did.And many people will know what Bush did—even to the end of the world.Bush was absolute evil.Bush is now like a fugitive from justice.Bush is a psychological prisoner.Bush has a lot to worry about.Bush can technically be prosecuted for hate crimes at any time.In any case, Bush will go down in history in infamy.Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang

B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996

Messiah College, Grantham, PA

Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993“GEORGE W. BUSH IS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY” BLOG OF ANDREW YU-JEN WANG

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I am not sure where I had read it before, but anyway, it is a linguistically excellent statement, and it goes kind of like this: “If only it were possible to ban invention that bottled up memories so they never got stale and faded.” Oh wait—off the top of my head—I think the quotation came from my Lower Merion High School yearbook.